Severe thunderstorms bring heavy rain, hail to region

A thunderstorm system brought hail, heavy rain and strong winds to much of the Charlotte region when it moved through the area Saturday afternoon.

But the front is forecast to move east of the area overnight, setting the stage for a nice – though warmer-than-average – Mother’s Day. There will be sun with some passing clouds, and a high near 85 degrees.

Over the course of the afternoon, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Union, York (S.C.) and a number of other counties were under severe thunderstorm warnings, the last of which expired at 4:45 p.m. as the storms headed into the Triad region, according to the National Weather Service.

But the storm system left scattered power outages and downed branches behind it as it left.

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At 5 p.m., there were about 6,000 outages in the Charlotte area, according to Duke Energy. That included 1,500 in Stanly; 1,200 in Lancaster (S.C); 1,000 in Mecklenburg, 1,000 in York; and a few hundred in Union, Cabarrus, Rowan, Chester (S.C.) and Gaston counties. By 8 p.m., about 800 customers in Mecklenburg County were still waiting for service, but numbers were significantly lower in surrounding counties.

More than an inch of rain fell in less than three hours in the University City area, according to rain gauges in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Flood Information and Notification System.

The gauge at Derita Elementary reported 1.06 inches fell during that time frame, the largest amount in the county. Another gauge on the northwest side of uptown, off Beatties Ford Road near the Brookshire Freeway, recorded 0.94 inches.

According to the National Weather Service’s spotter reports, the University City area also saw 1-inch hail around 3:30 p.m. In south Mecklenburg, wind gusts also blew down highway signs on Interstate 485 near Johnston Road around 4 p.m.

In Mooresville, a child received minor injuries when a large tree fell on a home in the 400 block of Kelly Avenue, officials said. A large limb went through the roof around 3:30 p.m.

Damage reports from around the area also included downed trees in Rowan and Iredell counties; downed power lines in Cabarrus, York and Chester counties, as well as hail across the region.